At least 80 people killed in Moundou, others arrested

At least 80 people have been killed in Moundou, southern Chad,
following a clash on 30 October 1997 between Chadian security forces
and members of the former Forces Armees pour la republique federale
(FARF), Armed Forces for the Federal Republic. Others have been
arrested on suspicion of collaboration with the FARF, and subsequently
subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Amnesty International is
concerned that unarmed civilians are among the victims and that more
extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests and torture may be carried
out in the next few days.

Shooting between members of the army and the FARF left at least two
soldiers and 40 FARF members dead, according to official
sources. Laokein Barde, leader of the FARF, escaped during the
incident, and his whereabouts are unknown.

The violence initially involved members of the FARF who were waiting
to be integrated into the army. On 18 April 1997, a peace accord was
signed by the Chadian government and the FARF which provided for,
amongst other things, members of the FARF to be integrated into the
Chadian National army and the civil service, a general amnesty for all
FARF members, activists and sympathizers, and a renunciation of armed
struggle by the FARF which would become a political party, renamed the
Forum des alliances pour la Republique federale (FARF), Forum of
Alliances for the Federal Republic.

In the hours and days following the first exchange of gunfire on 30
October, members of the security forces combed Moundou and
extrajudicially executed, or arrested and then tortured and
ill-treated, many unarmed civilians who they suspected of being FARF
members. Dr Merci Danyo was arrested on 30 October, he was beaten,
tied up, and put in a plastic sack; there has been no news of him
since his arrest. Dominique Djekoula, Alain Doumran, Mathias and
Gaston, members of the FARF, were arrested in Deli, a village near
Moundou, on their way back to Moundou from the capital, N'Djamena;
there is no further news of them. Alain Baltimore, two mentally ill
patients, and members of the family of Desire Laonoji, the executive
secretary of the FARF, were all extrajudicially executed by the
security forces. Two wounded civilians were taken from the hospital;
one was returned to his family and died shortly afterwards, but the
other is still missing. Two human rights activists were taken hostage
but managed to escape.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

President Idriss Deby has faced ongoing but sporadic armed insurgency
in the east, north and south regions of Chad since he took power in
1990. While all parties to the conflicts, including the FARF, have
committed human rights abuses against the civilian population, the
main perpetrators have been the Chadian security forces. Members of
the security forces taking part in counter-insurgency operations have
committed scores of human rights violations against the civilian
population. In 1995 and 1996, there were many counter-insurgency
operations in the south of Chad, in the Logone occidental and oriental
regions, where the FARF was active. Real and suspected members of the
FARF have been the victims of human rights violations in this context,
including arbitrary arrest and torture. Many people or communities
appear to have been targetted because relatives or people they are
associated with, are suspected of connections with the FARF.

The FARF have committed human rights abuses, including deliberate and
arbitary killings and rape, against the civilian population.

There is almost total impunity for human rights violators in
Chad. Amnesty International believes that the phenomenon of impunity
is one of the main contributing factors to the continuing pattern of
human rights violations in Chad, and the world over; when
investigations are not pursued and the perpetrators are not held to
account, a self-perpetuating cycle of violence is set in motion
resulting in continuing violations of human rights.